Extraordinary Winter Weather Events in the Area of Ptuj from 1700 to 1941
Extraordinary Winter Weather Events in the Area of Ptuj from 1700 to 1941

Summary/Abstract: The author of the present paper based herself on archives and printed newspaper sources to present extraordinary winter extreme weather events in the Ptuj area between 1700 and 1941. Extreme weather events have been affecting man’s everyday life since always and changing his living environment. Data about the extreme weather events that Ptuj citizens had to live through were recorded by chroniclers. All town chronicles read about severe winters, ice on the river Drava which represented the major obstacle, and consequently floods in the town in 18th and until the mid-20th century. The Ptuj citizens focused on particular on the frozen Drava in 1766, the event that was represented on a votive painting The Ice on the River Drava by a local painter, Franz Josef Fellner. Ptuj district office set up a crisis management board each time the river froze in order to monitor the foreseen danger and protect and save the citizens by following strict measures. Although the then town administration had a system of information and action due to repeated floods and frequent icy winters to quickly resolve the situation after each flood and melting ice, the town needed a lot of energy, will and financial resources to redevelop, and the reconstruction was carried out slow; the renovation processes were also slow due to additional financial burdens rather long. In 1896 the Municipality of Ptuj decided to build a new Drava embankment between the two bridges (road and railway) in the length of 236 meters. Between 1897 and 1907 river banks were strengthened with supportive walls. With this investment, they protected the lower part of the town from further floods. The Drava embankment with supportive walls between the two bridges protects the lower part of the town Ptuj from floods even in the 21st century.

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